Deception
by merciless571
Summary: Mildred has left Cackle's forever and the new first year's have arrived. Miss Hardbrooms's suspicions are raised when one young girl catches her eye.
1. Celeste

Celeste

Miss Hardbroom looked out the staffroom window onto an empty courtyard. The girls will be arriving soon. Last year she had said goodbye to the one and only Mildred Hubble. What would life be like without that troublesome young witch? It should be peaceful and calm and wonderful. It should be anyway. Constance had a hidden want for Mildred to not go. Yes the girl was terrible to teach and control but she had made the year exciting. Never had Miss Hardbroom felt the thrill of dangerous mishaps and unwise decisions, as well as putting the fate of a whole school in the hands of such a clumsy child. She hoped for that feeling again. Maybe the new first years will bring along someone who will help her achieve her desire.

The courtyard started to fill up. Soon it would be time for walker's gate. She went down to where the girls were gathering and found Miss Cackle.

"Wonderful time of the year, isn't it Miss Hardbroom?" asked Miss Cackle.

"Yes. Let's hope that this year's first years are competent," replied Miss Hardbroom.

"Don't be so negative Constance. This year will bring new experiences and changes!" said Miss Cackle gleefully.

"What do you mean 'changes'?" questioned Miss Hardbroom.

"Never mind that for now, it's time to meet the new girls," Miss Cackle skipped over to the gate in excitement. Miss Hardbroom sighed and hurried along behind her.

During the traditional song and ritual that happened ever year, Constance scanned her new class. Most of them looked terrified. A couple were sniffling and sobbing. There was one girl who caught her eye. She had long blood red hair and bright green piercing eyes. She was the last to come in. She didn't look at all phased by anything but she didn't look above it either. There was something about the way she held herself. She didn't know if she was feeling curiosity or distrust. She shook her head and decided to ignore it until she had actually met the girl. She believed that you should never judge a book by its cover.

While the girls were unpacking in their newly found dorms, the teachers were in the staffroom discussing 'the changes'.

"No!" shouted Miss Hardbroom.

"You have to! This will be a great way for the girls to expand their talents," retorted Miss Drill.

"This is not a circus! I will not be letting you 'help' with my flying lessons! They need to learn how to be confident and safe in the air and not how to do silly tricks!" Constance argued, "Go back to your irrelevant PE lessons!"

"Now Miss Hardbroom, you will be sharing your flying lessons whether you like it or not. It's final!" Miss Cackle always liked to have the last say so Miss Hardbroom gave up.

She left the staffroom and stormed off to her potions lab. How dare they make her share her lessons with that insufferable mortal? She will not stand for this. It's ridiculous. Before she could do anything about it, her new form class came. She started off with the normal formalities such as her name and the rules of her classroom. She then took the register. Down the list she went reading the names of scared witch after scared witch, none of them being her red headed curiosity. Finally she came to the last name on the list.

"Celeste Steel?" she said.

"Present," announced the red head in a confident voice. Her words made Constance's skin crawl. Why did this girl give her such a strong sense of unease? She decided to continue with the potions lesson she had planned and thought nothing more of it. Every question she asked was answered by Celeste's hand popping up. Whenever Miss Hardbroom let her answer it felt like she was belittling the older witch. Finally it was the end of class. She dismissed them and sat down. They all left apart from Celeste who approached Miss Hardbroom.

"Excuse me, Miss?" she said. Her voice made goose bumps rise of Miss Hardbroom's skin.

"Yes what is it?" She asked with noticeable unease.

"I wanted to say how much I enjoyed your lesson. Potions have always been my forte and I'm glad I have such a competent teacher. I hope we get along," she explained with a sly smile. The girl left without waiting for a reply. That child could not be trusted and Constance knew it.


	2. The Note

The Note

The day had carried on normally for Miss Hardbroom and she was now doing the lights out rounds to make sure the girls were sleeping and not messing about having midnight feasts and other such things. This gave Miss Hardbroom time to think on what to do about the Imogen Drill situation. She couldn't stand her when she was just sitting quietly in a room never mind having to teach with her. Constance didn't want to feel undermined by the non witch at something she was quite excellent at. The whole lesson was magical but that didn't deter Miss Cackle from her obviously flawed decision of letting a _non_ witch help. Miss Hardbroom wanted to sort this out more than anything but there was always the thought at the back of her mind that she should never ignore a direct action from an authority figure.

Miss Hardbroom hesitated outside of one particular door. This was the room inhabited by Celeste Steel. She was sceptical about what she would find. She reluctantly opened the door. The girl was lying on her back in a perfect manner and sleeping soundly. She turned to leaved but a noise stopped her.

"Good night Miss Hardbroom," said a spine tingling voice. Constance turned. Celeste was sitting bolt upright. Her posture was perfect, too perfect for someone who had just awoken from a deep sleep. Miss Hardbroom eyed her suspiciously before briskly leaving.

With rounds done, she returned to her solitary room to find a note pinned carefully to her door. She looked around for anyone who could have put this here. It certainly wasn't here before lights out and she hadn't heard anyone. She cautiously removed it from the door and entered her bed chamber. She sat down on her bed and unfolded the mysterious note. The ink was dark green in colour and was written in cursive. All the note said was "Hello again dear Constance," Her rational mind kicked in. It must have been written by one of the girls, a first day back prank. She thought nothing of this, but couldn't seem to get herself to throw the note away. Instead she left it in the draw where she kept nothing other than a silver ring embedded with sapphires. She then got ready for bed, hoping to fall into a dreamless sleep.

Sadly she wasn't so lucky. Nightmares plagued her resting mind. She dreamt about pain, evil and forbidden magic. A girl with blood red hair danced around in glee at the potion mistress's suffering. A familiar sly smile crept across the girl's face. She grabbed Constance's arm and dug her inch long nails into her skin. A gasp of pain escaped her lips which prompted the girl to laugh menacingly...

The dreamt pain seemed to have woken Miss Hardbroom up. She was breathing heavily and her body was laced with cold sweat.

"It was just a dream," she told herself, "nothing more than my over active imagination playing up again." She sat up and felt a sharp stinging come from her forearm. She turned to see what it was. There on her arm were 4 short gashed, the size of fingernails. She gasped. She needed to calm down and stop being so silly. It was only a dream after all, wasn't it? She turned to the table on which she kept the candle that lit the room. She lit it with magic and noticed another strange occurrence. The note she had so carefully put away in the draw was now sitting on her bedside table. Constance was sure she had put it away but dismissed it and rationalised the situation. She must have forgotten to put it away. The first day back was always a tiring day and she must have forgotten in her fatigue. Without giving it a second glance she put it away in the draw and went back to sleep.

_If only Constance had been more observant. Then she would have noticed the note now said "You can't run from what's inside..." _


	3. Flying Lessons

Flying Lessons

Miss Hardbroom walked out into the fresh morning air. However terrible the night before was, she had pushed it aside and was ready to face the day. Her positive mood shattered when she saw Miss Drill waiting for her on the courtyard. How had she forgotten the plan to share her flying lessons with the non witch? She had a habit of pushing bad things to the back of her mind and forgetting about them. Constance scowled at the smiling PE teacher, hoping it would in some way hurt her. Of course, it did not. Miss Drill was used to her stand offish behaviour and could now ignore it or on her best days fight back with some positive attitude which really annoyed her.

"I'm glad you're here early Miss Hardbroom," beamed Miss Drill, "I wanted to pass on some ideas I had to make your lessons more enjoyable, not that they're not enjoyable just that..."

"What," Miss Hardbroom interrupted," Is wrong with the way I teach?"

"Nothing, nothing. It's just Miss Cackle instructed me to change the lessons so it's not so focused on just flying and perhaps more sporty and a bit more competitive," She tried to word her reply very carefully so not to offend the potions teacher. Never the less, Constance felt undermined and wouldn't have any of it.

"Competition brings out the worst in people as you should know Miss Drill," Miss Hardbroom said, "But I will let you explain your ideas to me considering I am a fair person." Miss Drill couldn't help but laugh a little at that. When had she ever been fair?

"I thought we could have a competition to see which girl can fly the highest in 5 seconds. Then we could let them practice tricks on the brooms and judge them. The winners could have a prise," she explained. Even if she had liked the idea, nothing would let Constance give in to the mere mortal.

"That is absolutely ridiculous! Did you not consider the safety of our girls? Furthermore..." She exclaimed.

As they continued arguing, a figure could be seen from not very far away. She had been listening to the entire conversation. She knew what she would do and she knew exactly what would happen. They were really setting themselves up. Thump!

"Oh I'm so sorry Celeste," apologised Miss Cackle quietly. She didn't know what the girl was doing standing in a doorway but she would let it slide considering she had just walked into her.

"Go on your way now dear. I'm sure you have a lesson to get to," Celeste went off to the broom shed to get ready for her lesson. Miss Cackle headed over to the arguing teachers to see what all the commotion was about.

"What is going on here!" shouted Miss Cackle.

"Oh Miss Cackle I am terribly sorry" said a startled Miss Hardbroom.

"We were arguing about my plan for the lesson. Miss Hardbroom here will not let me implement any of my ideas," explained Miss Drill.

"Constance, you will implement any off Miss Drill's ideas into your lesson. I don't want any excuses. I am not in the mood for your bickering or your frankly childish behaviour. I want no more words on the matter," and with that Miss Cackle stormed off. Miss Hardbroom glared at the non witch, staring daggers into her soul.

Out came the girls, ready for their first flying lesson. She stared off the lesson like she normally did, talking about how to stay safe on a broom and what you must never do. Once she was sure the girls wouldn't mess around she guided them through the flying process. They managed to get their brooms up by at least the third try. It was quite a dismal attempt but she had seen worse. Once they had all practiced flying and hovering for a bit, Miss Drill chimed in with her ideas.

"Right girls, instead of just flying in these lessons we will also be doing tricks. These tricks will be used in an end of term performance to show off how great you all are," Miss Hardbroom rolled her eyes. There was no benefit in false flattery. All it caused was inflated egos and over confidence that could lead to injury and boasting.

"For this lesson you can practice standing up on the floating broom. Don't push yourself too much, we don't want any accidents," said Miss Drill. The girls started to practice. Miss Drill turned to the still scowling witch.

"See? I said they would be fine," she announced.

Celeste looked down at the two teachers. None of them were looking in her direction. Now was the perfect time. She stood up straight on her flying broom and jumped. She fell onto the hard courtyard floor and screamed her lungs out.

Miss Hardbroom heard an ear piercing shriek of pain. She turned to see Celeste lying on the floor. She must've fallen off. Miss Drill ran over to her to sort her out. Constance couldn't move. She couldn't get herself to help the girl but had no idea why. Luckily it was the end of the lesson so she sent the other girls away to go to their next period so they would stop gawking.

After Miss Drill had brought Celeste to the medical room she bumped into Miss Hardbroom.

"What were you doing?" Constance shouted, "I told you it wasn't safe! Now look what's happened! That girl could have easily died! You got away lucky! If she had died it would have been our jobs on the line!"

"Don't go blaming me. You are just as much to blame as I am! If you were watching them instead of belittling me, then you would have seen her fall and could have done something about it!" Miss Drill retaliated.

"I wouldn't have had to do anything it you hadn't told them to do something so stupid!"

The arguing continued, much to Celeste's delight. This was going to be fun.


	4. The Staffroom Cupboard

It's bit of a short chapter sadly. I am trying to update as quick as possible but I'm trying to think of ideas so it may take a few days to write a new chapter. I hate making people wait for things. Thank you for your reviews and following my story. It really means the world to me that people like it

The Staffroom Cupboard

Miss Hardbroom was angry, very angry. That ignorant teacher. How she was still allowed to teach at this school was beyond her. What was going through Miss Cackles mind when she hired her? She went to go sit in the staffroom alone with her consuming anger before she shouted at a student unnecessarily. She sat down in her favourite seat to relax and have a cup of tea. Slam. Miss Bat came bursting out of the cupboard. It gave Constance quite a shock.

"What are you doing Miss Bat?" she shouted.

"I'm ever so sorry. I seemed to have gotten lost. I'll be on my way," and with that she was gone. Miss Bat was a strange one. Heaven knows what must have happened for her to get lost in a cupboard. Miss Hardbroom sighed. No one would ever figure out the mysteries of Miss Bat.

It was finally time to rest after such a dreadful day and Miss Hardbroom was more than welcoming for the land of nod to take her away. She got into bed and laid her head down on the pillow. She closed her eyes and waited to drift off. She waited and waited and waited. An uneasy feeling kept her awake. She didn't know what it was but she couldn't rest until it was sorted out. She knew the girls were all sleeping peacefully so she decided to take some sleeping potion. Unfortunately she was all out but she had some in her classroom. She got up and hurried down to the cold, empty potions lab.

Celeste was a night owl. She had always been at her best surrounded by darkness. This was perfect for her as she wanted to "scout" out the school. She needed a place for the gatherings and she needed it soon. She had seen most of the school in the day and the library and many of the classrooms held no interest for her. She wanted to see the potions lab and the staffroom. She crept silently along the winding corridors. She knew her way around perfectly and avoided every creaky or loud step. She made it to the potions lab and carefully slipped inside. She needed to check the potions. Maybe one would be useful to her. At expert speed, she scanned the shelves for the one she wanted. Bottle after bottle and no luck. Drat. She turned to leave when she heard the door opening. She leapt behind the oak desk and hoped she wouldn't be caught.

Miss Hardbroom went into the potions lab and saw movement from the corner of her eye. She was on high alert. She walked over to the shelves of potions she had on display. Nothing. She went closer to her desk and was about to look behind it when a bat knocked a cauldron over.

"It must have been the bat," she muttered. She continued into the cupboard and got the potion she wanted and left to go to bed.

"That was a close one," Celeste thought, "Time to go to the staffroom." She waited a few minutes to make sure Miss Hardbroom had definitely gone. When she was sure she had, off she went.

When she got there, it was empty. It was perfect. She headed straight towards the cupboard and tried the handle. It wasn't even locked. If it had been it would have just been a quick spell to unlock it. She opened the doors. Inside was a lot of paper. She decided to dig deeper. Pushing paper and files aside she made it to the wooden back. On the wood was a golden plate that had been engraved.

It read "To be wide awake is what you need to awake the treasures inside,"

Celeste knew exactly how to solve this riddle, but it wasn't going to be easy.


	5. The Wide Awake Potion

-Sorry for the delays. I was finding it hard to write another chapter but I finally got done with one. I will finish it but it may take a while so don't give up on me. Thank you for your reviews; they're what keep me going.

Wide Awake Potion

Miss Hardbroom had had a terrible night's sleep, yet again. Nightmare after nightmare had plagued her sleeping mind and left her shaken that morning. All the dreams had only one thing in common, the girl with the red hair. She was quite groggy that morning and not as alert as she would have liked to have been so Constance decided to take some wide awake potion. She had to be ready for when the girls started making mischief and this was the fastest way to collect her wits. She took the blue bottle out of her bag, where she always kept it. Miss Hardbroom liked to be organised. If something was out of place, there would be hell to pay. She drained the bottle. There was only enough for one dose in there anyway. She needed to make more soon if she was going to keep having these nightmares. She put the empty bottle back into her bag so she could fill it up again later. Up she got from her bed and started to get ready. She got dressed and zapped her hair into her signature bun. Practicality over aesthetics was her motto.

She made it to the staffroom ready to eat her very small breakfast of two plain crackers and a cup of tea. When she got there though, something was off. She didn't know what it was but her witch's intuition told her that something was not right. Nothing seemed out of place. Everything was as neat and tidy as she had left it. She meandered towards the cupboard. The door had been left slightly ajar. Constance was sure she had locked it. Once again, logical thoughts kicked it. It must have been Miss Bat considering she always hides in there, the silly woman. Didn't she know that leaving the cupboard open could cause a robbery? Miss Hardbroom sat down, deciding to let it go just this once. She would only be scolded by Miss Cackle if she complained about it. Soon the other teachers came in and they started up their usual morning chatter.

Celeste sat and picked at her cold porridge. Her green eyes watched the clock as time ticked closer and closer to her potions lesson, her chance to get the wide awake potion which was hidden inside her potion mistress's bag. A sly smile crossed her lips but was soon replaced by a frown when a bunch of giggling girls sat next to her.

"Hey Celeste, you looked down in the dumps so we came to cheer you up," said a prude girl with her blonde hair in two plaits, "How come you never talk to anyone?"

"Uh, I'm just shy," lied Celeste. She wanted them to go away more than anything. She couldn't stand other people, especially ones who were some much stupider than her, "I'm sorry I've got to go,"

Celeste tided up her tray and left to get away from them. Luckily it was time for her potions lesson.

Celeste sat in class watching Miss Hardbroom's bag. She had to cause a distraction so that she could get into it without her knowing. It wouldn't be too hard considering how distressed her "classmates" were anyway. She would just have to make a little explosion, nothing damaging, just loud enough so that they would panic. She had managed to sneak in with a bottle of explonoise potion at the beginning of the year. She got it out of her pocket and slowly dropped it on the floor. A loud bang exploded in the classroom. The girls all screamed and started running around in panic. Perfect. Miss Hardbroom was getting up and trying to calm everyone down. Now was her chance. Up she got and ran towards the bag. She made sure she looked like part of the great mass of girls running around in fear. She slipped her hand into the bag and felt for wide awake potion. Her hand touched something cold and bottle like. It must be the potion. She fished it out and pocketed it. She pretended to have been calmed down by Miss Hardbroom and sat back down at her seat. She took the bottle out for further inspection. To Celeste's annoyance, it was empty. Drat! She would have to find another way to get it.


	6. Darcie

_When I started writing this chapter I had no idea where it was going to go. I was actually quite surprised at where it ended up but I quite like it. I always appreciate your reviews and thoughts on the story. I would also like your ideas on Celeste's and Darcie's relationship and what you think will happen. Thanks guys: D_

Darcie

The bell rang after Celeste's failed attempt to obtain the potion she needed. This left her with three options. She could either wait until Miss Hardbroom made some more and try to get it out of her bag, make some herself with the risk of being caught by Miss Hardbroom in the process or contact "them". None of her ideas seemed sensible. She needed the potion as soon as possible so that meant she had the unfortunate task of contacting "them". It was not that she was scared of "them", not in the slightest. It was just that whenever anyone ever made a deal with them, the cost was never worth it. She had been roped into many ridiculous tradeoffs in her past encounters with "them". She would have to do it tonight so she could get into the cupboard tomorrow. She got up and left for her next lesson.

She sat down in her chanting class with a sigh. Whose idea was it to let the deranged Miss Bat come back and teach again? At least this time she had a room instead of living in the cupboard. That would have spoiled all of Celeste's plans.

"Now girls, I would like you to work in pairs to come up with a chant about the autumn. The best one will be performed at the end of term flying event Miss Drill and Miss Hardbroom have set up," explained Miss Bat. That was just great. There was an even number of girls in the class so she couldn't possibly work alone. This meant she would have to work with one of the other insufferable witches that inhabited this castle. Oh how she longed for the solitude of her cold bedroom. She made no attempt at finding a partner and just waited until there was one girl left who had the great joy of working with her.

"Hi, my name's Darcie. I guess we're going to be working together," said a girl with mousy brown hair that was haphazardly tied into a bun. At least she wasn't too perky.

"I'm Celeste," she muttered. She couldn't care less about chanting. She couldn't care less about most things. She only cared about her plan and this was definitely not part of her plan.

They started to work on their chant. The word "they" was used lightly as it was mainly just Darcie coming up with the entire thing. She had quite an ear for music which was incredible luck for Celeste considering she didn't want to do it anyway.

Darcie had started to take quite a liking to Celeste. She didn't really have any friends and even though Celeste acted standoffish and to be frank quite mean she was intrigued by the mystery of her. There was something about the red head that Darcie found fascinating. She didn't think Celeste liked her in any way to be honest but Darcie was persistent. She was going to befriend the girl whether she liked it or not.

After an hour of complete and utter boredom, the bell rang. Unfortunately this didn't come as such a relief to Celeste. The next lesson was PE with the non witch Miss Drill. This woman had every characteristic that she could not stand. She was perky, sporty, preppy, persistent and irritating. There were plenty more things that annoyed Celeste but she tended to overlook them and just include them in her hate for anything human. She meandered along to one of her most dreaded lesson with Darcie in tow. This was actually very surprising. She had not been nice to the girl at all. She had made her do all the work and had barely said a word to her. She was utterly confused why the silly girl didn't hate her or at least intensely disliked her.

"Why are you following me?" asked Celeste curiously yet sternly. The only answer she got was a shrug and a wink. Confusion set in once more. What did this girl want?

Outside Celeste went into the blinding sun. She cringed away from the burning light which sparked comments abut her being a vampire and laughter. She ignored them like she always did.

"Are you actually a vampire?" asked a yappy voice form behind her. It was that Darcie girl.

"Yes I am and if you don't stop following me I will drink your blood," she said incredibly sarcastically. Darcie smirked.

"I'm not scared," and with that she walked off. She was still too close for Celeste's liking but then again she only liked it when there was no one around at all.

The day had just gotten even worse. Miss Drill had set them off to do some cross country running, like she was going to do that. As soon as Celeste was out of view she ran into the trees and sat down to wait for them all to return so she could join the pack again and look like she had been running the whole time. Slowly she lay down and started planning on how to contact "them". A few minutes later, she heard a rustling sound behind her. She sat up and turned around. Sitting a few feet behind her was Darcie. For goodness sake! Wasn't that girl ever going to leave her alone? Celeste was about to shout at her for following her yet again when Darcie scooted up next to her and lay down.

"Stop being so up yourself and lie down too," Darcie teased. Celeste had never been spoken to in this way before. She wasn't sure what to do. Darcie tugged on her arm and before she knew it they were lying down together on the forest floor. They didn't speak for the entire time and just laid there in silence. Even though it was hard to admit, Celeste was disappointed when she heard the loud thumping of the girls' running back.


	7. Them'

'Them'

The day was finally over much to Celeste's relief. She was finally back in her room and away from everyone else. Quite flustered from the recent events, she flopped onto the bed. She needed to collect her thoughts. Never had she ever been treated like that. No one had ever dared be that up front with her let alone touch her affectionately. What was with this Darcie girl anyway? Why wasn't she scared of Celeste? Everyone else was or at least didn't like her. That was what she was used to. No one had even attempted to be nice to her. She was utterly dumbfounded by Darcie's actions. She spent a good hour thinking and thinking about what had happened. When had she let her guard down and let the brunette in?

Eventually, Celeste decided it was time for her to start getting ready for her encounter with "them". They always make out that they're really sinister and scary but they're just eccentric and when you know how to handle them, they are just plain ignorant. "Them" consisted of 4 witches.

Marlene was the dumbest of the group. She spouted out the most ridiculous offers and tradeoffs and no one ever listened to her. She was there purely for man power.

Evelyn was the tag along. She was a sheep who followed the wolves. No one knew why she was there but she was and everyone had accepted it.

Harriet was the brawn. She couldn't barter or persuade anyone so she just used brute force. She could be quite intimidating if you didn't expect it but after you got to know her she was very oblivious to anything intelligent and if you out smarted her she would normally back down.

Last but not least is Tabitha. She was the brains. She was the one who came up with the deals. She was really the only one who did anything. The rest were for intimidation. She was the one you had to look out for.

They had named themselves "them" because it was the first letters of their names. It also sounded threatening and quite mysterious. Maybe that's why Evelyn was there, so that it would spell "them".

After lights out had occurred, Celeste was ready. She had her cloak and her broom and that was all she needed. She perched at her glassless window and told the broom to hover. After climbing on she flew off towards the trees ahead. She landed in a remote place she had never ventured to. As soon as she had her feet on the ground, the witches emerged.

"Well hello again Celeste! I thought I never see you again," exclaimed Marlene, "Oh how you have grown since the last time I saw you!"

"Shut up Marlene," grunted Harriet, "She is obviously here for business," Celeste sighed. This always happened when she was with "them". They argued all the time and sometimes it even lost them business.

"Speaking of business, you two shut your traps and let me hear what the girl wants!" demanded Tabitha.

"Yeah, shut up!" repeated Evelyn. Tabitha glared at Evelyn, causing her to shut up too.

"I need some wide awake potion," explained Celeste, "I know it's nothing big but I really need it," Arguments commence among the four witches. This was why she didn't want to contact them. It was a 5 minute deal but was inevitable to last triple that time. She sighed again. She'd been sighing a lot recently, mainly because there was a lot to sigh about nowadays.

"It will cost a drop of your blood," announced Tabitha after the arguing. That didn't seem so bad to Celeste. She held out her hand while they got the drop of blood and she was soon on her way with the wide awake potion. Those witches had always been weird. They'd asked for stranger things over the years like an ant covered in honey and a tear mixed with marmite. They were incredibly odd women. Heaven knows how they made a profit with deals like that. As she flew back to the castle, she passed over the spot where she'd had her "moment" with Darcie. She didn't like to refer to it as a moment but she didn't know what else to call it. She continued back to the castle and went to bed, actually excited for the next day.

_A/N – Thank you for your reviews, they keep me going_


	8. The Bullies

**The Bullies**

Miss Hardbroom hadn't slept at all that night. Not because of the nightmares but because of a feeling in the pit of her stomach telling her something wasn't right. Once again she hadn't found anything wrong at all. Her instincts were never wrong. She smelt foul play. She had made some wide awake potion that night but not with fresh ingredients so the effects wouldn't work as well. She took it anyway. It was all she had after all.

She arrived at the staffroom to find Miss Drill back from her morning run. Heaven knows why she would want to do physical exercise considering it caused injuries and sweating, two things Constance did not want to endure. She sat down and tried to ignore the non witch, which is very hard when she won't stop talking to you.

"Good morning Miss Hardbroom, you're up bright and early like normal," Miss Drill chatted.

"Quite," Miss Hardbroom replied trying to keep this conversation short and bitter. Even with her frosty reception, Miss Drill continued to pester her.

"We have flying lessons again today. I can't wait. I do love watching the girls fly around like the witches they are," the blonde blathered on, "No hard feelings about last time?"

"If you say so Miss Drill, I must be going," she couldn't talk to that woman for another minute. It wasn't what she had said it was just her personality that annoyed Constance. Something about the non witch rattled her cage.

Celeste didn't wake up to the sound of the bell that morning; instead she woke up to the sound of a person sneaking into her room. She groggily opened her eyes and looked around. Sitting at her desk, watching her was Darcie.

"Good morning Celeste, how did you sleep?" Darcie asked. The girl was smiling at her warm heartedly. For the second day in a row, Celeste was confused.

"What are you doing in my room?" she questioned the brunette. The girl's smile grew wider.

"Waiting for you to wake up silly," Celeste eyed her doubtfully. Could she trust this girl?

"Darcie, I..." said Celeste before she was interrupted.

"Look, I know you're probably not used to people like me. I can be a bit in your face but it's only because I really want to be friends with you," she explained, "It's just that no one else likes me and you and I could really get along." She was obviously not as used to being alone as Celeste. Maybe she would give having a friend a try. It might be quite nice to have someone to talk to. She did tend to get quite lonely.

"I'll try being your friend but I'm not promising that I'll be very good at it," Darcie's face lit up in delight. She pulled Celeste up by the hand and started dancing with her. They danced until they heard the bell that told them to get up.

They got down to the dining hall promptly but that didn't matter, the porridge was still cold. Celeste was happy though. She needed to get inside that cupboard and find out what was inside. Forget the gatherings; she had plenty of time for them. Now was the time for exploring. She did need to get this Darcy girl to stop following her around everywhere like a lost puppy. It was kind of sweet though. She had never had someone that wanted to be friends with her this badly. Most people just avoided her. They sat down and bean to eat the slop that masqueraded as food. Not one of them said a word yet the silence between them was not awkward. It was quite nice. Celeste hated unneeded talking. If there was nothing of interest to be said, why talk? This rare silence was broken when two large 2nd year girls came over and sat down with Darcy between them.

"Hello Darcy," they both said in high pitched sing-song voices.

"Um h-h-hello," Darcy stuttered in reply. Something was obviously wrong here. Darcy cowered away from the two older girls which was not something she usually did. She was very outgoing and confident and now she seemed nervous and maybe even scared.

"We need to talk to you outside," they announced. Not waiting for a reply, they hauled Darcy up by her arms and out of the great hall. This wasn't right and Celeste knew it. She hurriedly got and followed quietly behind the girls.

They had taken her into the corridor, away from any prying eyes. Well, except for Celeste's. She was hiding behind a door, waiting to intervene if she had to. The girls pushed poor Darcy against the wall and began taunting her. They were attacking every insecurity anyone could ever have. They insulted her hair, her nose, her eyebrows, and her personality, everything about her. Darcy did not react though. She dangled there with a stone cold expression on her face.

"That's my girl!" Celeste muttered.

"Did you hear that?" asked one of the second years.

"Yeah it came from over there," answered the other one pointing in Celeste's direction. They had her surround before she could even react. They didn't even bother taunting her; they just pushed her to the floor and began to beat on her. Punch after punch came. The sharp taste of blood filled her mouth. The world became fuzzy around the edges. She was going to pass out. The hits kept coming and coming. Then it stopped. A bright teal light exploded in front of Celeste. The large girls ran for their chubby little lives. Throbbing and bruised, Celeste sat up. She turned towards Darcy who was looking at her with a shocked expression. What had she done?


	9. Realisation

Celeste's eyes went wide with realisation. She had done something that couldn't be explained and now she was sitting there while Darcie thought about what to say. Celeste could see betrayal in her eyes, or what she thought was betrayal. She had never been good at reading people. Never the less, she needed to get out of there, and fast. She broke her gaze with her associate with a sharp turn. Quickly, she picked herself up and put as much distance between her and the situation as possible. This meant she was going to go and hide in her room. Not the most elegant of escapes but it was all she had. This might have been what Celeste needed. Darcie was distracting her from her real duties. How had she let herself get so carried away with someone as average and needy as her? That girl was annoying and stubborn and the sooner she got rid of her the better. But that was easier said than done. But it will be done. Celeste turned to look behind her during her daring escape to her cold little room and, as expected, Darcie was trailing her. When would she quit? Celeste had almost killed her and she still wanted to be friends. She would never understand people. She could see Darcie was calling after her but the sound of rushing blood in her ears was to loud for her to make out any of the words. She just kept walking and walking until she was safe and away from her. She quietly closed the door of her room and sat down, her back against it. That was when it happened. That's when all the adrenaline and shock had worn off. That was when Celeste really realised what she had done. She had almost KILLED Darcie. The only friend she had ever had and she could have been dead because of her. Celeste was normally above calling her a friend but in that moment, Darcie was the only thing she cared about and she had almost lost her. A wave of foreign emotion swept through her fatigue racked body. Her frail figure started shaking and her breath caught in her throat. Then the tears came. Only one at first, like someone trying to get it to rain in a desert, but soon after a river of hidden terror silently trailed down her face. What HAD she done?

Darcie stood outside Celeste's room, staring at the now closed door. Celeste had saved her. Of all the people to save her it was her. The girl who acted like she hated everyone. The girl who shut herself off from any emotions had saved her. Darcie had been in awe when that heroic light shot from her delicate finger tips and scared the bullies away. But then it all went wrong. Instead of the smug look she was expecting, she got one of worry and fear. Then she left. She ran off without another word. Darcie had called after her but to no avail. She wouldn't listen. And now where was she? Standing outside of the mysterious girl's door, their friendship taken back to the very early stages once again. But by doing this, Celeste had unconsciously told Darcie something that she doubted that Celeste would want anyone to know, she cared. She actually cared. And that was enough to give Darcie hope that they would still be friends after this. And anyway, what did she have but hope?

_A/N - Sorry for not posting in forever. I've been busy with school and I ran out of ideas for ages. This is a short one but I think it reveals a lot about the characters. I hope it's ok! Reviews keep me going :)_


	10. The Blonde

It was now lunchtime. Celeste had been in a state of numbness since the incident and hadn't been able to move. She barely remembered the last few hours and hadn't even questioned why none of the teachers had come up to find her considering she was missing lessons. She carefully picked herself up off the ground like she was a china doll. She felt very fragile and broken and was scared she might break down again if she wasn't careful. She hoped her face wasn't swollen and red from crying but just in case it was, Celeste cast a little spell on herself that would sort it out. She had learned it from her old tutor at home who thought showing emotion was weakness. Celeste thought she'd never have to use it but now she was glad she let the old bat teach it to her. She ran her fingers through her long, red hair to try and sort it out. She wanted to looked presentable. She had to keep up appearances after all. She made her way over to the door and sighed. She had to reappear at some point and she'd missed enough as it is. Cautiously, she pulled opened the old, creaking door and made her way down to the great hall where she hoped to avoid everyone.

When she arrived, the hall was filled with many busy students trying to get their food. Celeste wasn't hungry so she managed to slip through the crowd and onto a deserted end of a table near the back of the hall, all the while looking out for Darcie. She retreated into herself, to make sure she seemed as cold as possible so no one would want to sit next to her. She hoped it worked on everyone. Ten minutes passed before Celeste felt another body next to her. She turned but to her surprise, it wasn't Darcie. It was another girl from her class. She had waist length, platinum blonde hair and piercing green eyes that would strike fear into any normal person. Good thing Celeste wasn't normal. She had pale skin but not as pale as Celeste's. She had a thin, white scar curving along her jaw line. That was the only flaw on her. She sat as close to Celeste as she could get. What did she want? People tended to know not to sit next to her, well except Darcie of course. Where was Darcie? She looked around to the other tables and saw her. She was on her own but she wasn't alone. She was engrossed in sketching something. Her hand dancing across the page. Her face was the picture of concentration as she created something most likely brilliant. Darcie looked up and saw Celeste looking at her. Celeste quickly turned away, embarrassed that she had been caught staring. Her attention went back to the girl sitting next to her. She still hadn't said anything or even done anything. She would have asked why she was here but Celeste was a bit too broken at that point to hold up any conversation. They both sat together in silence until the bell rang. It was time for potions, Celeste's favourite lesson. The thought of her cold potion mistress jolted her memory. She remembered the wide awake potion lying in her desk and she remembered the staffroom cupboard. She remembered why she was here and what she had to do, tonight. She was going to get into that cupboard tonight.

When Celeste entered the frosty potions lab, she expected to be questioned about missing lessons but instead, nothing of the sort was brought up. Miss Hardbroom didn't even give her a second glance as she walked in and took her position at the back of the classroom. There were an odd number of girls in her class so it meant that she got to work on her own in potions as she was the most skilled one there. It was calming to be alone while surrounded with people. Darcie seemed quieter than normal and she half stumbled into the room, too focused on something else. Celeste watched her get up and move to her seat, her seat which was next to the blonde girl. They were partners for potions because Darcie was less than great and the blonde was better than alright. Maybe she could ask Darcie about her, if Darcie would ever speak to her again that is. Today, they were making potions based on their skill set. Miss Hardbroom had told Celeste she could make anything she wanted, as long as there were no disasters. She decided to make a persuasion potion. It would be useful for tonight and was more complicated and effective than a simple invisibility potion. This means, she could walk around at night and if she was caught, she could tell any lie she wanted and they would believe her without a second glance. It was easy for her to make. She'd made many on occasion but because of the potions strong effects, it can only be used sparingly. If you take too many in a certain amount of time, the effects would reverse and no one would believe anything you said. They would always assume the worst and it could get you into a lot of trouble. She hadn't taken one for over a month so she should be fine. She whipped up the coral coloured potion in half the lesson and spent the rest of her time reading through the complex potion book which she had been given by her tutor before she had left. A loud bang from the front made her tear her gaze away from the fascinating world of alchemy. Darcie had managed to make her potion incorrectly and had instead caused an explosion. Miss Hardbroom was less than impressed but didn't give Darcie a huge punishment as she was normally very well behaved in lessons. Her and the blonde witch were made to clean the potions lab after everyone had left. At least she wouldn't be alone. Luckily, today was a short day because it was the caretaker's birthday so when the bell rang, Celeste could make a quick escape to her room so she could prepare from tonight.

_A/N - Thank you for your reviews, they really helped me get this chapter out. I hope you enjoyed it!_


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